THE Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Red Line project at University Road in Karachi is a nightmare as well as a nuisance not only to the area residents, but to the whole of Karachi. Construction has been going on for years now, showing utter disregard for the plight of those trying to reach their offices, schools and universities, and those who are sick and need urgent medical attention.

Traffic jams spanning hours are com-mon as various sections of the road have been dug up, leaving only a narrow lane for the traffic. The pace of the work is excruciatingly slow. The construction method is inefficient and outdated.

Furthermore, there are frequent chan-ges in the construction design, which have their own implications on commuters, residents and businesses along the road. Nobody seems to care. The Sindh gove-rnment, the city administration as well as international donors of the project seem least bothered. One wonders what kind of a ‘green climate’ would be fostered over so much devastation, especially over the destruction of thousands of trees along the construction route.

The contractor seems to thrive on the quantum of public suffering. This probably creates the leverage to justify demands for increased funding or contractual adjustments. The initial project work was done swiftly. Hundreds of trees were cut down, the existing roads, which had been newly built back then, were battered, and heavy and costly concrete dividers were put in place that separated the construction work from the rest.

This was done in a matter of days. And then the delays started to mount. The pattern is all too familiar. The contractor spreads out the work and then cites the increased cost of construction for whatever reasons, and demands an adjusted cost of the contract. While the government, the administrators and the donors seem to be preoccupied with their own agendas, the common man continues to bear the brunt of this massive mismanagement.

One can only pray and hope that the government would some day provide sufficient traffic passages along key blockage points on the project route. The people of Karachi deserve better.

Ahmar Salam
Karachi

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2025